Can a Nasod Feel?
by Dragonscries
Summary: Machina was set - when she grew up, she was going to be an engineer. Instead, she was thrown into a video game that she had only known about for a day, and as an in-game character to boot.


**Why in the blazes am I writing this when I have school and another fanfiction?**

 **If any information is incorrect, I apologize. My knowledge of the Elsword storyline comes from Elsword:Evolution and the wiki, since I'm not very far in the original game, and Evolution is still on the Altera part of the storyline. Evolution also glosses over some of the details.**

 **Disclaimer: Yes, I totally own Elsword. I have no idea what sarcasm is. What's sarcasm?**

 **(No, I don't own Elsword. Please don't sue me.)**

* * *

Machina was a bit of an engineering fanatic.

She always had been - that was the reason her school had nicknamed her "Machina."

She memorized most of the major components of all the recent devices, often taking apart other people's devices and piecing them back together (with their consent, of course). She took a sort of pleasure from knowing things - there was a great feeling when others needed her help, and she knew she could provide it. Whenever it was a hardware problem with a computer, software issues with a xbox, or whatever, she always knew how to fix it.

So when a classmate said that their laptop kept freezing when he tried to play a new game, she thought fixing it would be a great way to take a break from her high school homework. It should have been easy.

Yet now, she was surrounded by discarded schematics (mostly self-drawn), a pair of goggles, gloves, and a few books, still wrestling with the computer. It certainly wasn't a hardware issue, as everything was in place - Machina had even swapped some parts with her own stash, and everything worked the way they were supposed to.

Machina couldn't find a software issue either. Checking for viruses yielded results, but removing them didn't do anything. And she really didn't have the time to look through all of the computer's code for bugs.

She had also opened the game up herself. It was titled Elsword, and it seemed interesting. She had jotted the name down so that she could take a look at the game itself later. True to her classmate's word, the computer completely froze, and she had to force shut down it.

Leaning back in her chair, she let out a sigh, before getting up. She had finished her homework after realizing that this would be a harder task than she initially thought, so there was no worry about school tomorrow. She headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

When she returned to her seat in front of the laptop, she placed the glass down before sitting and checking online for anyone with similar problems - and if she also took a look at the game itself, well, it was her free time, right?

She yawned. It was 2:00 in the morning. She must have been at this longer than she thought.

She was so tired... and sick of coffee...

The lights were flickering... the computer... was getting brighter...

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - Reboot**

When Machina was younger, she was the stereotypical tomboy. She enjoyed running headfirst into things, and definitely had a rebellious streak. When she was five, she cut her own hair with scissors because it "got in the way."

Her parents let her pick her own hair style at the barber from then on.

In sports, she was the person that was picked second, if not first, for the team.

So when the elementary school teacher assigned an "All about me!" project, everyone was surprised to find that Machina wanted to be an engineer. The most athletic girl in the school wanted to sit in a room all day, messing with wires and computers?

Machina stayed dedicated, however. When she reached 5th grade, she already knew a programming language. By the end of 6th, she could piece together simple electrical boards. By high school, she was the 'go-to' person when it came to damaged electronics.

She never had very many friends - not that she cared. In elementary school, everyone was jealous of her athletic ability. In middle school, nobody was willing to approach the 'nerd' out of fear of persecution. By high school, everyone wanted her skills - anyone who genuinely wanted to be her friend were chased away by the bullies that tried to control her, since the bullies couldn't go after Machina herself.

Although Machina had lost some of her tomboyish tendencies, she had demonstrated her willingness to resort to violence after a bully tried to take her science field day project. The offender received a CPU board to the face, followed by a knee to the gut. She received a detention, but none of her classmates were willing to do anything with her anymore.

Her parents disapproved of her decisions. They felt she should pursue sports, since she was already so good at them - especially soccer and tennis. Nevertheless, they cared about her, and tried to be there for her, though their jobs often kept them away from home. Ever since they had gotten promotions at their respective jobs, they would return late at night, often tired. By middle school, Machina's interactions with them were usually limited to a few minutes a day.

And so, Machina was alone.

* * *

 _Error. Main core damaged. Systems online._

 _Loading..._

 _Error. Previous save files corrupted. Rebooting from backup..._

 _Error. Backup data not found. Recovering available data._

 _Data recovered. Error: Massive damage to internal systems._

Where was she?

 _Foreign presence detected. Identifying..._

 _Identification complete. ID: Machina. Source code: 'Otherworld.' Assimilating..._

Where were those words coming from?

 _Assimilation complete. Opening file E/:Eve/:Program Files/:Another Code. Starting code: Another Code._

Was she dreaming?

 _New backup data established. Rebooting from backup._

Machina felt like someone was banging a sledgehammer on her head. It lasted only for a moment, but it left her confused and disorientated. On the other hand, she was fully awake now.

 _Reboot complete. Optical senses: functional. Scent senses: functional. Sonic senses: functional. Taste senses: functional. Touch senses:..._

 _Touch senses: impaired. Starting repair sequence..._

 _Repair sequence complete._

She hadn't realized that she couldn't feel her arms and legs until all feeling suddenly returned. With it, she realized she was in a liquid of some kind.

She tried to hold her breath, but soon realized something wasn't right when she didn't feel any pressure from her chest. Nor was there the feeling in her throat that indicated that her air flow had stopped. She opened her eyes.

She was curled up in a ball, floating in an orange liquid and wearing some strange black, white, orange, and pink garb that resembled what she wore when she went to...

Where?

She began to panic when she realized she couldn't remember, even though something told her it should have been easy.

 _Searching memory banks..._

 _Data not found. Searching backup memory banks..._

 _Data found. The intended term is "school."_

That's right. It was what she typically wore to school - though her school clothes less baggy, in shades of black and yellow, and had shorts instead.

But what was happening to her? Why were her current memory banks missing information that was present in the backup memory banks?

Memory banks?

No! Humans had "brains," not memory banks like Nasods.

Nasods? Weren't those from Elsword?

No. NONONONONO. She couldn't be in a fantasy game.

 _Error. Rising levels of agitation. Initiate calming sequence? Y/N._

Yes! She definitely wasn't calm right now. She was turning into a robot thingy and loosing all her memory and-

A soothing sensation washed over her, and she immediately calmed, shutting her eyes.

She concluded that she was probably dreaming, and decided to go along with it.

Little steps. Focus on little things. What was her name?

Machina/Eve.

How many years old was she?

15/623.

What was she?

Human/Nasod.

She was a Nasod now, with the mind of a human. A Nasod-human hybrid? Or a new species? Weren't Nasods from that game?

She had to get out. She had to figure out what was happening, where she was, what happened to her, what she was, if anyone could help-

Once again, the calming sensation returned, derailing her rapid train of thought. She commanded the pod to open. There was a loud slurping sound as the liquid drained out, before the pod opened, releasing Machina. She immediately stood and brushed herself off. As she did so, she noticed that on her bracelet, was a small etching reading 'EVE.'

She performed an examination of herself. Just by comparing her height with other objects, she seemed shorter. Her hair was white now, and there was a large gem attached to her head. She also felt something on her cheeks, but without a mirror, was unable to determine what it was. Her skin was white - but then again, her skin had always been pale. It came from staying indoors with her machines all the time.

For a robot, the skin felt awfully human-like...

She appeared to be in a lab of some sort, though it was heavily damaged. The device she emerged from was situated on a circular platform suspended above a chasm. A single path lead away.

A whirring sound came from behind her, but her eyes didn't stop their examination of her surroundings. She already knew it was Moby and Remy, having awakened from their preservation chambers and linked themselves to their queen. And although Machina was unnerved by the feeling of being connected to other robots (Nasods?), she was getting used to the strange quirks that came with being a Nasod. This probably was all a dream, after all.

Her examination finally reached the device that she had been stored in. The pods' glass was green, but the machine itself was a drab grey.

 _Analyzing... Analysis complete. Construct is a Nasod E-113 Preservation Capsule. Designed to preserve the Little Queen of the Nasods, Eve._

 _Warning: Energy levels low. Seek El immediately._

Machina started slightly at the sudden information, before filing it away. She pondered her situation. Nasods needed El, correct?

 _Correct. Nasods may also convert chemical energy as an alternative power source, but is much less effective than El energy, and is incapable of sustaining a Nasod._

She examined the pod. It had to have an energy source, so she circled around until she could find what appeared to be a panel. As if responding to her thoughts (actually, they probably were) Moby and Remy surged forward, smashing themselves against the panel and breaking it open. Blue lights flickered around them when they made contact, showing that their self-generated localized defense-fields were working.

Nevertheless, Machina was concerned for her two assistants and grabbed Moby out of the air, checking it for damage. When she was able to discern that there was no damage, she did the same for Remy, who had been edging away. Once she finished her inspection, she let them go, and both hovered just barely out of reach, as if afraid she would snatch them out of the air again.

Pulling out the damaged panel, she found what she was looking for - an El crystal. It was roughly the size of her hand, and it lay in a slot similar to a battery. She slipped it out. Was she supposed to eat it?

Remy and Moby bobbed up and down, nodding. She frowned at the crystal.

"Oh well." she cracked the crystal in two, before throwing one half into her mouth. To her surprise, it tasted like chocolate, probably because she was a Nasod in this dream. As she ate, the warning notification disappeared.

Once finished, she turned to the path leading out and exited the area. As she walked, Moby and Remy cleared the wreckage out.

After she crossed through the doorway, she saw a small group of people - an elf, a cyborg, and two humans - surrounded by defeated Nasods and a large fallen Nasod. They stood in combat positions, weapons pointed to her. She glanced at the large Nasod behind them.

 _Nasod King, Adam. The first Nasod to be given the ability to create new Nasods. He strives for efficiency, and is the counterpart to the Nasod Queen, Eve._ \- came the identification for the large Nasod.

One of the humans - a red-haired boy - lowered his stance and approached her. Although Machina recognized him as Elsword, a playable character from the game, a part of her was upset that he had dismantled so many Nasods - perfectly fine, amazing works of technology.

So she slapped him.

* * *

 **To clear stuff up, Machina only knows the storyline up to Lanox and the character pages on the wiki.**

 **As for Machina's character, think of her as a sane, toned-down Add with an interest in knowledge. Less crazy, more curiosity.**


End file.
